The disruption of the pandemic shows no sign of slowing as we are well into the new decade. The last two years have drastically impacted the recruitment industry forever! Recruiters face severe talent shortages and engage in talent wars to find and attract candidates. Recruiting people in the right roles will be a significant challenge for businesses, with our clients stating this as their top business concern in 2022. For the convenience of reading, the article is divided into two parts. Part I and Part II together capture the trends for 2022, where the organization could easily find the top five to focus on.

For some recruiters, hiring freezes have meant work has come to a standstill. For others, urgent and unplanned, high-volume staffing needs have ratcheted hiring up to a frenzied pace. For most, the move to remote work, ghosting, and long notice period coupled with the global pandemic has meant an industry upheaval unlike any we've seen in modern history. Companies need to hire and keep good employees, and trends will showcase that. 

So, it is essential for the Talent Acquisition team to understand what recruiting will look like in 2022 and beyond?

Part I

1) Candidate-driven market

2) Rise of proactive recruiting

3) Hiring for soft skills

4) The quality of recruits is more important than ever

5) Development of internal talent pools

6) Reliance on social recruiting, increased investment in social media, employee referral programs, and job boards

7) Competition and persistent skills shortages pose an ongoing challenge 

8) Achieve staffing success in 2022 with help from the recruiting experts 

9) More organizations adopt diversity hiring goals

10) Remote recruiting will remain popular 

Part II

11) Pivot to virtual recruiting

12) More candidates express interest in mental health benefits

13) The emergence of employer branding

14) Catering to employee experience and focusing on retention

15) Longer notice periods

16) Recruiters find new ways to use AI and data-driven recruitment

17) Reaching passive candidates is more important than ever

18) Use of talent assessment tools

19) Bolder EVPs

20) More selective applications

What are Recruitment Trends?

As the world continues to change, recruitment and selection trends also adapt. What has changed are the recruitment trends. We studied the reports from HR Profiling Solutions, 4 Corner Resources, Indeed, Monster, McLean & Co., Lever, and many others on hiring trends in 2022. How we source and evaluate candidates has changed rapidly over the last few decades. Let's see how innovation and recent recruitment trends will shape 2022

Pivot to Virtual Recruiting

Geographical barriers are no longer a significant issue. Many businesses are hiring fully remote employees and transitioning to a virtual workforce. 

Expect digital recruitment trends such as virtual recruiting to continue well into 2022.

More candidates express interest in mental health benefits

One of the most troubling implications of the pandemic is its effect on our collective mental health–implications we probably won’t fully grasp the scope of for some time.

More candidates are inquiring about employers’ flexibility to accommodate working parents.

In these challenging times, millions of professionals are trying to juggle remote work with managing virtual learning and childcare duties.  

The emergence of Employer Branding

As businesses grapple with a talent shortage, employer branding will be a prominent recruitment trend for 2022. 

Candidates will thoroughly research the company's reputation before applying for a job.

Catering to Employee Experience and focusing on retention

Due to high employee turnover and the impending talent shortage, businesses are turning to the employee experience to understand why employees resign.

Employee attrition is a huge talking point right now.

So, retention will be top of mind going in 2022, from benefits on offer to company culture and rewarding loyalty.

Longer notice periods

Long notice periods for senior hires have always been an industry standard.

Employers will have to focus on keeping warm strategies for candidates in 2022 to maintain excitement and enthusiasm through the duration of a notice period. 

We should also see a rise in talent mapping and planning for future roles so that any long waits don’t severely impact growth and business goals.

Recruiters find new ways to use AI and data-driven recruitment 

Despite AI can be biased, and it can’t screen candidates as well as humans, it still helps when a company has a large number of resumes to comb through.

The use of artificial intelligence in recruiting has been on the rise for several years now, and the trend will continue in 2022.

Digital campaigns can give insight into your potential candidates and talent pool.

Reaching passive candidates is more important than ever

Due to the fierce competition that will continue into 2022, recruiters will need to spend more time reaching passive candidates.

Recruiters will need a pipeline of passive candidates who are open to hearing about new opportunities.

This saw a rise in companies trying to reach out to the passive candidate market rather than just the limited few searching for jobs.

Passive candidates can often make better hires.

Use of Talent Assessment Tools

Another significant recruitment trend for 2022 will be to invest in hiring technologies to remove bias, create equitable recruitment practices, and ensure a culture fit. 

Bolder EVPs

          An EVP or Employer Value Proposition is an outline of everything that a company is doing to attract and retain the best talent

2021 was the year of employer branding. In 2022, we can expect to see EVP development like never before. , to improve retention and talent attraction in 2022, employers will have to be more specific in their EVP development.

More selective applications

Employers should expect to see a much smaller volume of applications in 2022. As we enter a candidate-driven market, the power has shifted.

Candidates can afford to be much more selective about the jobs they apply.